


Recover

by Burgie



Category: Star Stable
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-22
Updated: 2016-08-22
Packaged: 2018-08-10 09:02:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,274
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7838698
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Burgie/pseuds/Burgie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jess goes to the Hermit's cottage to recover after the events of Starshine Legacy 3.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Recover

Jess was in agony from the moment that she’d been kicked through that portal by that blasted girl. Her human form had been absolutely shredded, and for a frightening few moments her transformation song didn’t work. Maybe because she’d been screaming instead of singing. But finally, she pictured her family in her mind and it calmed her enough to transform. She teleported into a body of water, and for a while all was black.

When she came to, her hair was floating in front of her in a black shroud. But at least she could see. Glancing down, Jess saw a tattered black shirt and her true form’s tail. It was a relief to see.

Despite her pain, Jess managed to swim to shore, though something painfully grazed her arm along the way. A rock, no doubt. She got to shore and dragged herself along the painful sand and burr-infested grass. She was beyond grateful that her hermit kept the door unlocked for just such an occasion.

Jess managed to drag herself to the bathroom, leaving a trail of blood, and propped herself up against the bathtub. There was a medical kit kept here, just for her. She opened it, though her talons gave her some trouble, and grabbed out some antiseptic and cotton balls. Soaking the cotton with antiseptic, she hissed as it came into contact with the gash on her arm.

“Jessica? Hello?” her hermit called, and Jess winced at him finding her in such a state.

“I’m in the bathroom,” she called, continuing to dab at the gash with the cotton ball.

“Mum?” Oh, hell. Now her son would also see her.

“Stay outside, Jonas, I have to help your mother with something,” said the hermit.

“Dad, I’m not a little kid anymore,” said Jonas. “I can-“

“I don’t want you to see me like this, Jonas,” said Jess. She grit her teeth against the pain and dabbed at her wound again.

“Okay, mum,” said Jonas. To Jessica’s relief, only one set of footsteps approached the bathroom. 

“Knock me down with a feather,” said the hermit, his face paling as he saw her on the bathroom floor.

“Do I look that bad?” asked Jess. He only said that when he saw something worth swearing about.

“You look like a fish out of water,” said the hermit. “Would you like me to run a bath for you? Why aren’t you in human form, wouldn’t that be easier for you?”

“My last mission didn’t end so well,” said Jess. “Can you shut the door, please?” Her son could never find out about her true self. Not the siren part, he knew all about that, just everything else. She wanted him to have a normal life.

“Of course.” The hermit closed the door behind him, having to move her tail to do so. A few black scales fell to the floor, gleaming green and purple in the light, and Jess felt sick at the sight. It was probably from dragging her tail over to the house. It couldn’t be because her real form was also falling apart.

“My target was the Sun this time,” said Jess. “Her horse kicked me through a Dark Portal. The journey there hurt me a lot.”

“I’ll fix you up,” said the hermit. “Don’t worry, my dear.” She smiled and willingly let him take her arm, only grimacing somewhat as he dabbed at her wound.

“My human form was shredded,” said Jess. “I’m lucky that I had this form to change into. But even it feels… wrong. I feel sick, like something’s eating me.”

“And your scales are falling out,” said the hermit, running a hand over her tail. She smiled at the gentle petting and kissed him.

“Most of that is probably because I had to get from the water to here,” said Jess. “My shirt protected me from the worst of it.” Even it was gone now, though, shredded completely from the journey. 

“You need to recover,” said the hermit. “Please tell me that your colleagues will allow you to stay here and rest.”

“They have other plans,” said Jess. But did they? “What day is it?”

“Well, I don’t know the date, but it’s Sunday,” said the hermit. Jess concentrated, using what was left of her magic. She couldn’t feel any great magic, at least, none that would indicate the presence of a world-ending bomb.

“I guess they failed,” said Jess. “I’m safe for now then. And free.” She rested her head on his shoulder. “I want to stay here with you. I don’t care what they think, I… I missed you so much.”

“We missed you too,” said the hermit. He kissed her cheek and then finished cleaning her wound before applying a salve (which he had made, of course) and bandaging the arm.

“How has our grandson been?” asked Jess while she waited for the bathtub to fill.

“Courting,” said the hermit. “He has met a nice woman. She’s a surfer.”

“That sounds very sweet,” said Jessica.

“Perhaps we will be great grandparents soon,” said the hermit.

“Perhaps,” said Jess, and laughed. She kissed him again, and he ran a hand down her hair.

“Do you have any other wounds?” asked the hermit, looking her over.

“I don’t think so,” said Jess. “I just feel sick. It’s worse than morning sickness. My head is pounding and my entire body aches and my stomach feels just terrible.”

“If you don’t mind my saying so, it sounds like menstrual pain,” said the hermit. “Er, not that I would know what that feels like. But Holly described it as being like that.”

“I still wish that I could’ve been there more for Erik,” said Jess. “But I was just busy with other stuff.”

“You had no choice,” said the hermit. He ran his hands over her, prodding her gently in places to see if she had any damage. His touch still made Jess blush, even after all these years. But then he found some grazes on her stomach that made her cry out in pain.

“I normally heal faster than this,” said Jess. The hermit fetched the ointment again and rubbed it into her newly-discovered wounds, though she hissed in pain and had to blink away tears.

“The portal must have hurt you,” said the hermit. “Maybe it drained your magic.”

“Yes, it did, I… I forgot to tell you. I just need rest now and I’ll be fine,” said Jess. She closed her eyes while her hermit cradled her and kissed her forehead.

“You can rest now,” said the hermit. He picked her up and gently lowered her into the now-full bath.

Though she was tired, Jess still reached out to the hermit and kissed him, almost pulling him into the bath in her clumsiness. His body wasn’t young anymore, she had to remind herself of that very important fact, but he didn’t protest. He just kissed her until she fell asleep, and then left to clean up the house. He had to clean up the scales and blood that she’d left behind on her way to the bathroom from the sea, and tell their son about what had happened. As he worked, he tried to think of what to tell their son. Something about a fight with a sea predator would probably work, or pirates. This didn’t happen very often, usually Jonas was out fishing and didn’t know when Jess came home injured like this. But when it did, the hermit always told him a lie. Jess was adamant that her family not know about what she truly was. Not unless it became absolutely necessary.


End file.
